Republicans Won’t Endorse Famous Holocaust Scholar Deborah Lipstadt

When Deborah Lipstadt was nominated last summer to lead an expanded State Department office as an ambassador to monitor and confront anti-Semitism abroad, the appointment seemed ready. ready to perform. Professor Lipstadt is a renowned scholar of Damage, author of six books, and an expert on contemporary anti-Semitism in all its forms and forms.

Pamela Nadell, director of the Jewish Studies Program at American University, said: “It’s great that she hasn’t been confirmed. “I think fighting anti-Semitism is a nonpartisan issue.”

Lipstadt is one of hundreds of Biden appointees to Senate-confirmed positions that are languishing a limbo imposed by the GOP—The worst partisan blockade ever, according to the Nonpartisan Public Service Association. The Republican manipulation of Lipstadt allegedly stemmed from a tweet she sent in March 2020 rebutting Republican Senator Ron Johnson’s assertion that if the May 6 rioters 1 happened. Antifa or Black lives are worth it too supporters instead of Trump supporters “who love this country, really respect law enforcement,” he would feel more threatened.

Lipstadt tweeted, “This is white supremacy/nationalism. Pure and simple.”

That may be what Idaho Senator James Risch – the ranking Republican on the Committee on Foreign Relations, where the nomination of Lipstadt has stalled – was referring to when he told Jewish Insider last week that he was concerned about her past tweets criticizing Republican lawmakers. He told the Jerusalem Post that there was nothing “nefarious” in the delay, that “we go back and look at everything the nominee said and did to make sure we were doing the right thing. It is still in progress. ”

He added, “shouldn’t let anyone read it as a sign of a problem with her, a problem with problems or anything else.” When asked if he had received a letter from 20 Jewish organizations urging the confirmation of Lipstadt as the next Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, Risch said, “Yes, that’s what that’s impressive – and convincing.”

But he also said that “The nominee left an extensive trail of material that we are in the process of reviewing.”

Lipstadt, 74, is a recognized authority on anti-Semitism, its history, rhetoric, language and symbolism. Her 1993 book, “Holocaust Denial”, led to a lawsuit from the author and Genocide David Irving under British defamation law, which Lipstadt won after a lengthy trial in London. The 2016 film, “Denial,” starring Rachel Weisz as Lipstadt, re-enacts the event.

Since 1993, Lipstadt has been the Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies at Emory University. “I’ve known her for years, decades,” said Pamela Nadell at American University. “There is no scholar in the United States more knowledgeable about contemporary anti-Semitism than she is. Her nomination should have come six months ago. When she was announced, my immediate reaction was disappointment! I’m just surprised she didn’t sail past. “

Lipstadt was an expert witness at last year test in Charlottesville white supremacists marched with tiki torches during the 2017 “United Right” rally. She testified that she saw “a lot of public anti-Semitism.” testimony and cult of the Third Reich in the evidence” presented at the trial. She described at length about “Alternative Theory” to destroy the white nationalist societies she saw “in an overwhelming fashion” in Charlottesville, where marchers chanted, “The Jews will not replace us.” She described the Charlottesville operation as a “call to war”.

Roberta Kaplan, attorney for the plaintiffs, told the Daily Beast, “I certainly never brought up an expert witness that the other side barely had the guts to cross-examine. If you’re in that courtroom, the strength of her testimony and her coherence are so obvious, it causes a courtroom panic. And the jurors, you can tell from the looks on their faces even when they wear masks on them every word. Some of them learned something. She made them understand what the Holocaust was and how it related to the events in Charlottesville. “

The jury awarded $25 million in damages paid by protest organizers, self-proclaimed white extremists and neo-Nazis. Kaplan, based in New York, said she thought the trial would be “all about racism, that people from rural areas don’t even know any Jews.” Instead, “When you see what they say to each other, 85 to 90 percent is about the Jews.”

“Why are Republicans blocking her?” asked Kaplan, clearly confused. “You would think they wanted an ambassador who could express these views in the clearest, most coherent and compelling way possible. All you have to do is sit in that courtroom. “

Senate Republicans are hearing whether they can see a senator’s story to confirm a scholar who understands history and isn’t afraid to name those who dare repeat it. The best thing you can say about the GOP stagnation on Lipstadt is that she’s not alone. The Senate confirmed 355 (out of 644) Biden executive-level appointees. At this point in George W. Bush’s tenure, the number is 505 (out of 677), and for Barack Obama, 450 (out of 653). (Trump has only nominated 555 in the same timeframe, and he has a Republican Senate, so his stats aren’t comparable.)

Part of the logjam is an increase in positions confirmed by the Senate as they signal more states. If confirmed, Lipstadt will have the rank of ambassador, unlike her predecessors in the role. Lorna DeJonge Schulman, vice president of research for the Public Service Association, Lorna DeJonge Schulman, GOP is also doing what it can.

“In the past, a senator with authority would find a way to remove something. Now, keeping the nominee, not allowing the Senate to move forward, seems to be the goal. ”

With Lipstadt, that’s a goal that could prove costly in ways the GOP might not expect.